1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of semiconductor fabrication, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication, and precision polishing; and specifically to a method for the removal of waste products from the polishing process, and for the introduction of multiple, different slurries during Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) and planarization.
2. Description of Related Art with Respect to Semiconductor Fabrication
An integrated circuit generally consists of a silicon wafer substrate typically produced or fabricated as a disk with a diameter of 100 to 300 millimeters and a thickness of 16 to 40 mils. Metallic, dielectric and insulator depositions forming interconnected circuits that are created on a wafer by a series of processes, such as lithography, vapor deposition, and oxidation, that produce the desired electrical circuitry. An electrical insulating layer, up to one-micron in thickness, is then deposited over the electrical circuit layer. These irregularities are on the order of 0.05 to 0.5 microns. It is critically important that these irregularities be planarized, so that new layers of circuitry can be developed without loss of focus in lithography, whereby accurate interconnections can be formed between layers.
Various techniques have been developed and used to effect the removal of these irregularities. Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) (planarity) process has become a key technology to remove irregularities and achieve required planarity, layer and line width geometries of microelectronic devices. A CMP system generally consists of the following components:                1) a polishing pad mounted on a rotating or orbital platen or belt;        2) a stream of polishing slurry (oxidizer and abrasive) whose chemistry and abrasive media is important to polishing performance;        3) large amounts of ultra pure water (UPW) used as a lubricant or flushing medium/agent;        4) slurry components and flushing agents. Additionally, to adjust chemistry or fluid properties during processing;        5) a diamond end effector which controls the surface condition and asperity profile of the polishing pad; and        6) the wafer to be polished mounted in a carrier on a rotating head which supplies the polishing pressure.        
The introduction of slurry under the wafer, and the removal of waste products from the polishing and conditioning process, are dependent on the centrifugal force of the rotating pad, the action of the end effector, and the flow of slurry plus UPW.
Irregularities on the wafer are removed with a slurry of oxidating chemicals and very fine abrasive particles continually presented to its surface. Polishing or planarity is generally accomplished with the wafer placed face down on the polishing pad that is rotating beneath the wafer that is itself rotating around a central axis. Linear and orbital methods are also utilized and this invention is applicable to those processes and tools.
Current polishing tools and processes consist of a single operation step per platen because of operation with specific slurries. Additional tools, platens, and materials handling are required to support multi-step polishing operations such as that required for copper CMP.
There currently exists no means of using different chemicals, and abrasives of different materials or particle sizes, without separate equipment or extensive changeover and/or manual cleaning of the polishing equipment.
Polishing pads are generally made of a plastic (urethane) material. The removal rate of wafer irregularities is affected by the pressure applied to the wafer against the polishing pad, the relative speed of the slurry on the wafer, the amount of fresh slurry presented to the surface of the polishing pad, and the circuit pattern of the wafer. The introduction of slurry under the wafer, and the removal of waste products from the polishing process, are dependent on centrifugal force of the rotating pad, the action of the end effector, and the flow of slurry and components and UPW. This type of flushing does not always remove the waste. Large settled abrasive particles from the slurry, and agglomerated slurry and wastes, form in the pores and grooves of the pad, and between diamond particles on the conditioners. Commercial applications have large volumes of UPW used in production and significant amounts of wastewater that must be treated.
The rate of wafer polishing depends upon the pressure applied to the wafer, the slurry, and the diamond head on the end effector arm to roughen or condition the polishing pad, to provide a consistent asperity profile. In cross-section, the pad has regions of peaks and valleys which both carry slurry and provide pressure to the abrasive particles therein. The pad generally consists of a hard or soft urethane material with pores and/or fibers dispersed throughout the active layer. The fibers and/or urethane give the pad rigidity, provide pressure to the abrasive/wafer interface, and aid in the removal of material from the surface of the wafer. The pores act as a reservoir for the slurry facilitating the chemical contact and interaction with the wafer surface. The chemical interaction is an important ‘accelerator’ over an abrasive-only polishing situation, and therefore is critical to overall process performance and control.
The diamond end effector generally consists of diamond particles embedded in a metal matrix in the form of a rotating disk. The disk is principally used to texture the polishing pad so that a sustainable rate of planarization can occur on the wafer and wafer to wafer. It is also used to remove used slurry and debris from the pad. The used slurry and debris often occurs as large hard agglomerations which consist of silicon dioxide (SiO2), dielectric, and metals that become embedded in the polishing pad. These materials reduce removal or polishing rates and repeatability and can produce defects in the form of scratches that damage the wafer surface and device performance (opens, shorts). Data from the semiconductor industry reveal that 60% of chip loss is due to contamination. The CMP process has been reported to be a major source of this contamination.
The uncontrolled delivery and removal (flushing) of process fluids can also cause polishing waste to build-up on many surfaces within the tooling. When dislodged, these dried/agglomerated compounds can lead to additional defects. Slurry has proven to be “unstable”, prone to agglomeration due to shear forces in delivery systems, heat, and age effects. There is also potential for diamond particles to fracture or be torn from the metal matrix of the end effector disk and scratch the wafer surface. Within typical polishing times, from 60 to 600 seconds, there is significant causal mechanisms for scratching and more control of the process is required.
Presently this debris is removed from the pad with copious flushing of the pad with UPW and/or slurry. This method relies on centrifugal force, or other pad movement dynamics, on the liquid to carry off the waste and agglomerates. This is a very uncontrolled method of removal because the flushing cannot break-up the static layer of slurry on the pad surface, nor is it able to dislodge the slurry in the holes of the pad. This could lead to additional agglomerates of slurry becoming deposited in holes and recesses of the pad. This slurry can become dislodged, at a later time, and damage subsequent wafers. The reliance of these “rotational forces” to present new slurry to the wafer/pad interface is also less controlled or repeatable than required, causing variation in removal rates and uniformity.
Polishing pad surfaces, which typically contain pores, holes or grooves for channeling the slurry between the wafer and the pad, require conditioning to create a consistent polishing interface. Slurry and debris from the wafer must be removed by continually “abrading” or “conditioning” the pad surface. Additionally, oxidizing slurries sometimes used in this process contribute to the contamination of the pad by interacting with device layer metals forming harder oxide compounds; or layer delaminations, causing potential contamination and scratching of the wafer.
One apparatus that attempts to solve the problems defined above is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,697, incorporated herein by reference, in which a system for conditioning rotatable polishing pads used to planarize and polish surfaces of thin integrated circuits deposited on semiconductor wafer substrates, microelectronic and optical systems, is disclosed. The system is comprised of a pad conditioning apparatus, process fluids, and a vacuum capability to pull waste material out of the conditioning pad, self-contained flushing means, and a means for imparting a vibratory motion to the pad conditioning abrasive or fluids. The pad conditioning apparatus is comprised of an outer chamber in a generally circular configuration with an inlet port for introducing process fluids and/or UPW and an outlet port for supplying negative pressure.
Considering the prior art conditioning apparatus described above, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a method and system for conditioning polishing pads with a self-contained cleansing means for removing debris and loose slurry, as it is dislodged during the conditioning process. Accordingly it is an additional objective of the present invention to provide a conditioning system in which the conditioning force (pressure) applied by the end effector can be precisely controlled while maintaining parallel orientation between the end effector and the polishing pad. A further objective is to provide a capability to measure the applied (resultant) forces (downforce and vacuum pressure) and adjust these forces, as appropriate.
It is also an objective to provide means for the introduction of different (multi-step) operations with specific slurries or additives without additional tools, platens, and materials handling.
Another objective is to allow for neutralization of slurry chemistry between steps.
A further objective is to allow for the introduction of alternative/additional slurry or chemical feeds.
Yet another objective is to allow for multi-step polishing on each platen.
A still further objective is to increase through-put by allowing a more aggressive first polishing step, and subsequent, finer abrasive/chemical selectivity near the planarization endpoint.
Another objective is to eliminate intermediate material handling and to allow for single platen processing of copper and barrier metal films.
Yet another objective is to extend utility/life of single and double head polishing tools.
Yet another objective is to reduce defectivity through more selective endpoint control via slurry change (chemistry or abrasive).
Yet another objective is to improve uniformity by reducing handling/alignment/fixture variations seen by wafer.